Coating-machine.



, Y w.1. WELSH, comm; mcmug.-

AP-Pucmon man nella. ma.

WITNESS.l

A TTORNEKS W. 1. WELSH. 4COMING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED-FEB. 19.l9|6.

Peeeneed Feb.26,11918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A@ .Rw

w. 1. WELSH.

- comme MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED TEB. I9. |916.

a sains-sneer s.

Patented Feb. 26,

)ff/amm fik/M,

Arronnfrsjl;

A injtthe cmivenient removal of thc coated arcles may NITED sTATEsPATENT oEEIcE.

WILLIAM J. WELSH, oF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, AssIGNoE To HEMENDINGEE,

'ALEXANDER a COMPANY, INC., A CORPORATION or NEW YoEK. v

COATING-MACHINE.

Application filed February 19,l 1916. Serial No. 79,333.

To al whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. WELS a subject of the King of GreatBritain, 'an a resident of Jersey City, county of Hudson,'and State ofNew Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 1nCoating-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates more'particularly to a machine for coatingchocolates and candies.

One of the principal objects of theinvention is to `provide a simple andei'licient Inachine in which the articles to be-coated are automaticallyconveyed through a. coating apparatus, and during the passage throughthe apparatus have chocolate distributed uniformly thereon to form acoating therefor, and said articles conveyed from said coating apparatusor part of the machine in such condition and in a way as will perticles.

Other objects of the invention are to pro- `vide'an apparatus or machinein'which the articles may be auton'ia'tit-.ally fed, separated,

a coating of chocolate applied thereto and evenly distributed, andduring the travel of the articles have an additional fancy line ordesign placed upon the surface thereof. Other objects of the inventionare to provide a machine which is inexpensive io manufacture; to providesimple means whereby'thc different parts may be automatically actuated;to provide simphl means. for cooling the article, and to provide simpl(lmoans whereby the chocolate or coated material may be maintained inpropel' comlitii'in and suitablefor use at all times.

Another object of the invention is to pro- -vide simple means wherebythe. mechanism for placing a sl'iecial design upon the artibe readilythrown out of act-ion. A further object of the invention is to providesimple andeiiicient. means whereby the coated article may7 be placed ina convenient. position and upon apronsl orsheets of paper to adapt-thearticle to be readily rcmoved from the machine. `l

' With these and other objects in View, the invention will be moreparticularly described with reference to the accompanyingr drawtzhisapplication,

the end of the description.

Patented Feb.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, partly roken away,of one form o' machine embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section of a part of the chocolatefeed.

Fig. 3 is a. 'plan view partly broken away end partly in section.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken on` the line IV-IV of Fig. 3,showing means whereby the articles to be coated may be separated beforeentering the coating apparatus or part of the machine.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view in elevation .of a part of the means forproviding a sinuous line as a decoration or fancy design on the articlesas they pass through the machine.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of'Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is side elevation looking at-the side of the machine opposite tothat shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective View showing how sheets of paper toreceive lthe articles may be held on a traveling apron or eonveyer; and

Fig. 9 is a transverse section showing the means whereby the feed hoppermay be vibrated.

The candies or articles to be coated are' previously ]')repar ed and maybe .substantially rectangular and of a relatively large size. or of anyother desired form. These randics or articles are placed en, masse in ahopper l() and l said hopper is mounted transversely oi [he machinebetween the sides 11 of a main frame or support 12. The frame. 12 may beof cast iron or other material, and of any desired length and may be ofa more-or less skeleton nature so as to be light and easyX tomanufacture. I.The sides may be suitably held together by beams orotherwise and at the upper portion thereof have lengthwise rails r beams13.' The hopper 10 is pivotally moi nted at 14 to lugs on the rails 13or otherwise pivotally held thereto and has oneend,

ripheries to adapt the hopper to be vibrated or agitated during therotary movement-of said'cams. The cams 1'( are secured to a' as 15,closed andthe inner end open to adapt ,the articles to Ido 'like in formhaving irregular orcamy pethejslze of the articles an y dies or articlessaid 'rotary rod Vora-shaft 18st `)the end oithe'm;

chine and a second rod or shaft 19 s 4'supported between the sides orralls 18 'at any suitable distance fromV the shafty 18. About saidshaftsor rolls is an endless carrier oi` conveyor belt 20. 'The conveyerbelt 2O is located under` the mouth of the ho per and duringthea 'tationthereoft e candies` or.V articles to e` coated will -passffrom.

the hopper on to saidfbelt or conveyorcoatng'mterial closijllgthe spacebetween andv uniting any :two articles.

- A coating part of apparatus 23 `.of the machine is'locoted adjacenttothe ini'e'r end of the belt or apron 20. .This coatingappa- .yratusmay be 4vvariously .construct-ed. vAsshownit consists of a casing 24 ofsubs t' an'= n tially box-lik' form. v Thiscasing24com or section 26.-The ase 26 towhich the 'top section 2li's held either detachably-orotherf4 wise forins ,a receptacle for "chocolate'.or` other coatingmaterial anda double bottom to forma chamber27 by whichth'e Y chocolateor other materia-1 mayfbekept in a properstate. The base 26 is suitablysup# `ported byflcgs 28 of suchheig'htas will*v fplacethereceptacleformed''byithc base 26 somewhat belowthe plane-o.movement of,

the 'traveling belli 2Qffund in 'position for surf ,rotate in unison.

art accordi-ligv `to :stance to the same to be'individuallycoatedwithoutthi ttlic 's lplushocolate. fl

apronpasses Y, fs :belt 20' and" "at theother end of thecasing'thebelt-passes sT-he shafts 19 fandourefspaced closetogeti'hcrand sare 'ofzfsuchsizfethatthe articles] to,4 be .coated willI readily passromthe apron 'orconveyer 20 onto' the egon-29j as .tomovey withvtjhe' h roughthe .coatihg apparatus.. f The-l'chocoljateinthe,besef 26- isf"'con'tently., agitated'wli'ile the -niachineis nllib ,ai

ofiwhich is `:provided with e bevel .gear 36 which is in mesh with abevel gear 36` held to. a lrotary shaft 37 so Vthat said shafts .will

i The chocolate is col- A lccted, by two wheels, drums or vcollectingVelements 38.. These Wheels 38 are held to a shaft `39 torotateztherewith and seid` wheels have their lower portions movable` yinthe chocolate so that es the `Wheels'rotate the chocolate will becollected thereon and b the arrow. At the upper portion oftli'eapparatusis a distributing hopper 40,. for the chocolate, Thishopper` extends the entire width of the wire or metal-apron. 29 8 0 andh'asa trough-like portion Macross the bottom of which is a sievellikeplatev 4:2v of wire mesh or other formwhich is adapted to erinit thechocolate to pass therethrough to be distributed overthe candies orarticles 8- to be coated a'stbelatter travels along with theqbeltor/apron 2.9.v The 'body' 41 of the carried/ thereby in the directionindicated distributing hopEer f lQiha-s an inclined ,front Walll and atrt e upper portionv thereof at both' -ends is provided with scrapers..4l99 whereby:- the chocolate collected 'by the wheels 38 at opposite si esof the apparatus majr be removed from said wheels and l causedto passinto the hopper body @Oft-hoA f-f prises' a cover or to 4portion 25m-ndaV base ends of -thehopper being'inolned as at 44s 95 to direct thelchocolate into the trough-like body #l1-over the bottolnfflQ. The rearside of the bodylll extends upwardly and isbcntfsubstantallyU-formto'fit over' an'd be held" f to a;-transverselyextendihg bar 45 'byWhichHlO saidtroughdiko body is suitablyA supported.

The collectingand distributing for the chocolate ,will causethechocolnte-.y

`to be deposited more o r less evenly over the 4 during `their travel orairun'der pressurefthrough an air inlet 11Q- pipe 4.6.\ This pipe46hasItSflUWerKend-r aretlfand l'spreadjas at 4'( to extendoverw :theentirefwdthf offthfe apron 29,'sorne what above thearticles dhd at.. itsYouter .1"-

`Eend andfis" co'nnected"'tovv a. "source'uof airsupi115 plyas a.lcombined "blower and exhaust-fan. Y u v 4The blbwer'isfof (Seen-annum es.Winsome air through the pipe flandNwithdz-awthe .z .v air from" theapparatus through a pipe or. .u

:connection 48. The exhaustconnection 4:82120 hopper-f bsnsffextended.

means. A As the articles tc'be coated travelthrough hopper 4th part;

.emlled at one edge to the apron and are dlg-tel. .for the reception: ofsheets et paper or finer material 54 on to whichthe coated articles passfrom the apron 29 and by which they may be placed ina cooling apparatusor otl'ierwise handled as desired. rlzhese sheets ol" paper are easilydetached from the cli s 56, and when. one sheet is re-y niow-il anot ieris placed in position by the attendant. The sheets are held againstaccidental detachment during their travel with the carrier to a' pointwhere they receive lthe coated articlesrby a belt or apron This belt orcarrier4 55 at one end passes around` a roll or shaft 56 located underthe roll 51 and at the other end passes about a. roll or shaf t 57located forwardly of the roll 4 52 and in such a way that the carrier orbelt will at its upper surface rest snugly against the louf'e';l portionof.' (he apron or belt 50 and will, thus retain the sheets of paperagainst detachnicnt from. the clips. The operator at that end of themachine as soon as one sheet is. removed replaces that Sheet byanother'one so that there is a continuous supply of the sheets of' paperor other material to meet the requirements of v the machine, said sheetsbeing parallin paper or oiled papelor of any suitable character. Todestroy the plamness of the surface of the coatedv articles, and to havea more or less fancy decoration thereon means are pro-` vided whereby anadditional amount of chocolate may be distributed on the articles asthey pass through the apparatus and after th'ey pass beyond the airinlet pipe 46. As one means the additional chocolate is formed as asinuous or wavy line on the articles during the travel of the belt 29.For this purpose a hopper or distributing receptacle 58 is supported toreciprocate on a transversely extending bar or rod 59. The receptacle'or hopper 58 has its body 60 of such size as will hold a quantity ofchocolate and has an inclined forward wall 61, the upper edgev of whichkat one side is formed to provide a stantially the same and operates inthe same manner as the Wheels 38 and collects the chocolate and moves itin the direction indicated by the arrow and is scraped therefrom anddelivered into the body of the hopper 58. The hopper 62 ,is held to thebar or rod 59'and this rod 59 is guided in the 4sides of the casingsoas' to move transversely @fille travel of the articles. Each end of therod 59 may be guided in a bearing 64: and on one side the rod is madecyhndrmal asfat 65 and is connected by a crank 66 to a wheel 67. Thewheel 67 is held to a shaft 68 and this shaft 68 is suitably mounted torotate in brackets 69. The end of the shaft 68 opposite the wheel ordisk 67 has a beveled gear 69 which is in mesh with the gear 70 on atransversely extending main drive shaft 71. The crank or link'66 at oneend is held to an adjustable block 72 which is movable in a dove-tailedgroove 78 and adjusta'pbly held therein so that different th'rows may begiven to the cnank 60. This vpermits the different reciprocatorymovements to be given to the rod 59 and hopper or receptacle 58 so thatdifferent extents of the wave or curvature of the sinuous line ofchocolate distributed on the coated articles may be secured. The bottomof the hopper 58 -is provided with a series of openings spaced apart sothat each opening is intended to be over or in the line of travel o'l'each coated article and during its travel will form wavy lines on thesurface thereof. The hopper is held to the bar 59 by a springclip 74,Fig. 2l, and this clip adapted to engage either one of two recesses 75and 75a. The purpose of these recesses is to permit two adjustments ofthe hopper 58. In the position shown in Fig. 3 the hopper is in positionfor use and reciprocates with the bar or rod 59, but by moving thehopper so that the clip will engage the recess 7 5 thescraper ofthereceptacle 58 will be removed out ofthe path of the collecting wheel 63so that chocolate Will not be fediduring the rotary movement thereof to.the hopper 58, and this. will permit the apparatus to be used Withoutthe extra deposit of chocolate as the articles pass through theapparatus. l

The casing 24 has openings 76 at the forward and rear portions thereofthrough which the belt or apron 29 passes and these openings are adaptedto be artly closed by vmeans of gates or slides 7, the latterA havinghandles as 78 by Which-said slides may be forcedA downwardly so as toplace the lower edgepthereofin close relation lto the upper surface ofthe belt or-apron, leavingsuHicient room for the article to be coated topass into and through the casing, 'there being atrough or funnel atjoneside as 79,

fr filling the receptacle 26with chocolate.A

on said shaft. A )ulley 83 is held to rotate vwith the clutclx member 82and there is also a sprocket wheel 84 rotatable with the pulley. Asprocket chain 85 passes around the sprocket Wheel 84 and around asprocket wheel 86 on the transversely eX- tending` shaft 37' -by whichthe stirrer or mixer 32 is operated. The mixer may thus be rotatedconstantly Whlethe rest oi the machine remains idle in 'order 4that thechocolate may be kept in proper Acondition even when the remainder"J ofthe machine is at rest. On the shafts 71 is a spur gear 87 and this gearis in meshlwith the gear 88 on the shaft 39 and with the gear 89 on thetransversely extending'shaft 90 to which the wheel or drum 6 3 forcollecting the chocolate is held and by which the said chocolate wheelis rotated. A sprocket chain 91 extends from a sprocket wheel on theshaft 90 to a larger sprocket wheel on the #moved in unison.v

drive shaft.

roll or shaft 31 so as to rotate .the latter, end said roll 31 and roll51 4are connected by a short chain 92 to rot-ate in unison. On the endof' the roll 51 opposite the sprocket chain 92 is a beyeled gear'98which meshes with a similar gear 94 on' a shaft 95. This shaft 95 may beextensible as by apihsand slot connectlon, as at 96 andat the oppositeend' thereof is provi ed with' a. gear 97 which is 'in mesh with a gear'98 whereby the rolls and Ithe two aprons 50 and 55 are A. s rocket chain99 passesaround sprocket W 'eels yon .the 'shaft 20 is properly moved,thus all' of the parts are rotated in unison and from a common Theoperation of 'the invention will be rcadil understood from the foregoingdescription when taken in connectionwi th the accompanying drawings.Assuniing the parte to be 1n the position shown in the drawings and thehopper 10 filled with articles to be coated and thefpulley 53 .ro-ytated'after the clutchmemb'ers are placed' `in engagement 'tof rotatethe shaft 71, the

articles in the hopper-101willcbe fed to the conveyer belt 20.sltheconveyer belt 'advances the artclesfare' 'separated bythe pins 21and pass onf to vthe conveyor belt 29. yThe articles as they`pass1through-the coating apparatus will receive anointing of. chocolatefrom the hopper '41' andbe subjected to a. blast of tir fromthe .pipe46to remove the surplus chocolate therefrom. The sur,

lus chocolate passesf'ihroughwthe apron 29 ack to't'he'rec'eptacle 26'.'fthe apio'n2'9L carriesthe articles forward a "sinuousL line `or other tdecoration' isl placed .upon thev chocolate bythe vibratory movement ofthe hgpper 58 as already explained-and 4from the apron 28 thecoajte'd'articles' pass-to thei A Lap10n'50. Theapron 50 -contains-sheets' of;

paperox" other holding x'n'eans for thefarticles may be removed anplaced on said lapron.

From the foregoing it will be evident that simple and efficient meansare provided whereby previously 'shaped articles may be and after beingconve ed a oertain'distance other paper sheets automatically fed, andcaused to pass through a coating apparatus, a mating of chocolate"placed thereon as the articles are conveyed'.v

through the ap iaratus, and a sinuous line or decorative upon eacharticle; that simple means is provided Whereb 4tl1e'coati1-ig materialmay' be evenly distri utedion each article/and-V eaeh articlecoatedindependentlyythat' sims eposit of chocolate placed' ple means isprovided whereby the' coated i articles may be readily removed andhandied; and that said machineis simple in i Aconstruction and entirelyautonmticA in itsv l l sa my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters action.

Having thus described Patent. :wm

l. In a machine of theclassdescribed,` the y combination of areticulated endless ti'avelv ing apron adapted to vsupport articlesto'be;

coateds means for delivering articles upon said apron 1n rows spacedapart transversely of th`e apron, a hopper supported abovelthe apron andadapted to deliver' apsheet of coating material transversely of theapronv to coat the several 'rows of articles carried thereby, a secondhopper supported above the "apron and having a plurality of diss' chargeoutlets spaced apart transversely 'off A the apron adapted to deliveradditionalcoat-'f ing material upon the spaced rows of coated articles,means for reciprocating said"'sec"' ond hopper transversely. of the pathoij travel 'of the spaced rows of articlesgmean's interposed betweensaid hoppers for distributing the coating material deposited b grthefirst hopper upon `the articles and vfor forcing the surplus coatinglsmaterial down; 4

.-wardly through `the apron, atreservoir-ffor liquid coating materialsupported Vbeneath 2. In a machine ofthe class descr-ibed,' thecombination #of a -reticulated .'t'ratelin' i 'i apron2 means `for'delivering' a plurality a spaced rows of articles lupon said apron,

coatin 1120 hopperadaptedtto 'dehver afsheet of liquid" materialupon-the' rows of articles carrie by the apron, a'seco'nd hopper 'adaptsed to dischargeseparate streams of "mateeating said secon hoppertransversely'- Vof I iso- 4 rial deposited by thehrst hopper and forcethe surplus material through the reticulated apron, a reservoirsupported beneath the apron adapted to receive the surplus mate rialdischarged from both of said hoppers and the material. removed by theair blast, and independentmeans for supplying said hoppers with coatingmaterial from said reservoir.

3. In a machine of the class set forth, the combination of a reservoirfor plastic decorating material, means for conveying arw ticles to-bedecorated over said reservoir, a hopper supported above the reservoirand conveying means and having discharge7 openings spaced. aparttransversely of the path. of the articles, means for reciprocating saidhopper transversely of the path of the articles, a dipping Wheelrotatably mounted adjacent one end of said reciprocatory hopper to haveits periphery pass through the decorating material in said reservoir,and means held to said hopper to reciprocate therewith adapted to scrapedecorating material from the dipping Wheel and discharge said materialinto the hopper.

et. In a machine of the class described, the

combination of a reservoir for coating ma a plurality of dischargeoutlets spaced apart transversely oi the apron, means for reciprocatingthe decorating hopper transversely of the apron a dipping wheelrotatably mounted in the reservoir at one end of the coating hopper,means carried by the coating hopper for removingr4 coating material fromSaid wheel and discharging it into the hopper, a dipping Wheel rotatablymounted in the reservoir adjacent one end of the rev ciprocatorydecorating hopper, means can ried vby the decorating hopper 'forremoving material from said wheel and dischargin it into said hopper,and means interposed between said hoppers for removing surplus coatingmaterial from the articles and forcing'said surplus material through thereticulated apron into said reservoir.

This specification signed this 16th day of February A.. D. 1916.

WILLIAM J. WELSH.

